Bulgarian government resigns

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Bulgaria's parliament accepted on Thursday the resignation of Prime Minister Boyko Borisov's government after days of sometimes violent protests against high electricity bills and low wages in the EU's poorest country.

The surprise resignation announced on Wednesday came five months ahead of the scheduled end of the government's term of office, opening the way for early elections in late April.

Days of protests have shaken Bulgaria in the past 10 days. They were first sparked by high electricity bills but soon snowballed into wider anger against deepening poverty and corruption in the small Balkan country.

The once hugely popular Borisov attempted to ease the crisis by sacking his unpopular finance minister on Monday and vowing to revoke the licence of Czech electricity giant CEZ on Tuesday.

Tensions however continued, with violence at a rally on Tuesday night finally prompting the 53-year-old former bodyguard of communist dictator Todor Zhivkov and police chief to throw in the towel.

The resignation was backed in parliament on Thursday by 209 lawmakers from the 215 present in the 240-seat legislature. Five were against and there was one abstention.

"This was the only right thing to do - in the interest of Bulgaria and its citizens, who do not want to see violence on the streets," deputy premier and Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said in an address to parliament Thursday.

"I apologise to people for not delivering the politics they expected. But this was the maximum we could do while also keeping financial stability," he added in Borisov's absence, who skipped the debates and only came to parliament for the vote.

The severely cash-strapped cabinet managed to avoid any major turmoil amid the global crisis but kept public salaries frozen at about 400 euros ($534) and typical pensions at 138 euros ($184) for the past three years, while unemployment hit 11.9 percent of the workforce in January.

With both Borisov's party GERB and the opposition Socialists saying they would refuse to form a new cabinet under the current parliament, President Rosen Plevneliev was expected to dissolve parliament, call an early vote within two months and put in place an expert cabinet in the coming days.

Plevneliev was due to address the nation later on Thursday.

With tensions running high and the political crisis adding to people's economic woes, analysts expressed fears that the resignation would not be enough to assuage the frustration and the country would enter a long period of instability.

"I want to thank you for the support. But do not rally tonight. Everyone who loves me and respects me should go home now," Borisov told the crowd, seeking to prevent clashes with anti-government protesters.

A Gallup poll from earlier in February showed that support for GERB had already gone down to about 22 percent, allowing the opposition Socialists to catch up.

AFP

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